Painful Memories

(A/N: If I get enough reviews for this chapter before the end of the day I may add another, maybe two. I'm almost done the final draft anyway so I'm in a good mood.)

A Preliminary Face-off

Sonia and Manic walked down the streets of the city they were born in, the city they'd returned to when they were certain their brother was dead. They were silent. Finally Manic said, "It's been so long since… since…"

Sonia looked sadly at the ground finishing, "Since the incident? Since Sonic…" She swallowed over a lump in her throat.

"I miss him sis," Manic said, voice cracking.

"I know Manic, me to," she meekly replied, giving her brother a squeeze.

"Sonia, what if he…" Manic began.

"Look brother, don't even say it! He's gone! We can't chase a dream! I would give anything to have him back, but you can't bring back the dead!" Sonia shouted in misery. Manic was frightened at first, but she burst into tears and he forgot his fear. He quickly hugged her, trying to sooth her.

Suddenly screams were heard. Instantly Sonia and Manic came out of their melancholy with gasps. People were running away towards them. Instantly alarmed Manic cried, "Whoa, what's the rush!"

"Come on, let's check this out!" Sonia declared, seizing her brother's wrist and dragging him along.

All at once, right in front of them, a robot leapt down and began shooting his machine-gun like arm! The two siblings screamed and threw themselves to the earth to avoid the hail of bullets. Other robots soon followed. "Whoa, what is this! It can't be Robuttnick, he disappeared too! Besides, these guys are, I don't know, different! His robots were never like this!"

"Let's not ask questions!" Sonia yelled back. She instantly touched her medallion. "Good, it actually worked this time."

"Shoot first, ask questions later? Sounds good to me!" Manic replied, getting into the thrill of the fight and trying not to remember that this time Sonic wasn't here. He touched his own medallion. Sonia began shooting the offending squad. Manic threw his symbols then banged on the drums until the Earth split beneath some of the robots. Sonia and Manic met each others eyes grinning. Their victory was cut short, though, when suddenly Sonia was hit with a powerful blast! She flew back screaming in pain! "Sonia!" Manic cried. He instantly rushed to her with a symbol and rolled just in time to hold up the shield, saving her from a hail of gunfire.

"That was unbelievable," she said in awe.

"Thanks," he replied.

"Not you, the robot!" Sonia said. "Manic, these aren't normal!"

Suddenly a new voice spoke saying, "Oh aren't they?"

Manic and Sonia gasped, looking up. "Sleet!" they both exclaimed as they saw the wolf on a hover craft, rather, Dingo as a hover craft. "You're alive!" then continued in absolute shock.

"Of course I am," he replied.

"How!" Sonia demanded. He simply smirked.

"Sonia," Dingo said dazedly.

"Blech," she grumbled.

Manic moved in front of his sister protectively saying, "Hey, stay away from my sister creep!"

"I think you'll find that nowadays these are the norm for Dr. Eggman," Sleet continued, ignoring Manic's hostility towards Dingo, and simply correcting Sonia. He then chuckled.

"Eggman? Why didn't I think of that?" Manic questioned.

"These are normal!" Sonia asked fearfully. She then shook her head and called up, "How are you two here! You disappeared!"

"We came back for a little reunion," Sleet answered. He mock frowned as he surveyed them then tauntingly said, "Wait, aren't you triplets? Where's the third?" Sonia and Manic's misery returned to their eyes and they looked down.

"Now don't worry children. You'll join your brother soon," Sleet said coldly. "Robots, attack!" he ordered.

Just then, though, a bola came from nowhere wrapping around the wolf! Sleet cried out in alarm, losing his balance, then fell from Dingo! The robots turned in time to meet with a sword!

"Mother!" Sonia and Manic exclaimed. They looked at each other then instantly called out their weapons again to help.

Queen Aleena, however, slowly made her way towards the fallen, bound, and now struggling to reach the shape shifting remote, Sleet. "Sleet, look out!" Dingo cried. Sleet gasped, looking up in time to be seized by the collar and pulled up to face Aleena dead on!

The momentary fear instantly dissolved, though. There was stunned silence. "Ah Aleena, it's been a long time. Too long," he finally said with an evil grin.

"That's Queen Aleena to you Sleet," she replied. She held the blade to his throat hissing, "Call them off."

"You wouldn't kill me," Sleet challenged. She merely looked him seriously in the eyes, pushing the blade closer so he felt it pricking into his neck fur. He swallowed, looked at the robots, then called, "Retreat, they've had a taste of what's coming!" Instantly the bots stopped attacking then began to leave. Sleet looked Aleena dead in the eyes saying, "Run away, Aleena, before your children reach you. If you hold them in your arms again you may never let go. Just like you haven't let go of that little blue blur of yours, Sonic."

This was met by a slap in the face, rather a strike with the hilt of the sword,

and the grieving mother screaming, "How dare you!" Sonia and Manic had frozen with gasps at Sonic's name.

"He still lives Aleena. He thinks you're all dead. But Eggman will change that soon enough. Be prepared my queen; this is nothing compared to some creatures he has," Sleet warned. His hand closed on the shape shifting device, as Aleena's shock had frozen her as well as Sonia and Manic at the mention that Sonic was alive, and none thought to stop him. He zapped Dingo normal. Dingo landed then ran to Sleet tearing off the bola. Before Aleena could gasp Sleet had seized her and stolen a taunting kiss. He then zapped Dingo into a motor bike and rode off.

Finally Aleena's shock left her. She looked back at her children whose eyes were filled with tears. "Mother?" Manic meekly said. She sobbed, cloaked her head again, then disappeared in a smoke screen.

"Mommy, no, don't leave! We need your help to find Sonic!" Sonia begged as she and her brother ran to no avail. Aleena was gone again. Manic came up behind Sonia and placed a hand on her shoulder. They looked at each other. They were on their own to find Sonic.